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Friday, Feb. 27, 1942

SUBJECT: ''Meat in 1942." Information from Triple A officials of the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture,

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More predictions today about food during 1942 for us in the United States and
for our allies.

You know this is an abnormal year. The world is at war. And in war it's
hard to see far ahead. Those who are informed can estimate how far our war supplies
will go, but unforeseen events might upset their estimates. That's the way it is
with our food supply. The experts can tell you how the food picture looks now, but
of course, they can't guarantee that it will stay that way. The demands on food
will be great, perhaps greater than the experts can foresee. But no matter what
comes, it's encouraging to know that farmers are going out this year to raise
record amounts of food needed for war.

The special information from the Department of Agriculture today is about
meat for home use in 1942. This information will give you some idea of how meat
will fit into your menus this year.

The new goals for the production of meat on farms come in big numbers. Here
they are.... 83 million head of hogs. ... 644 million chickens. ... 28 million head of
cattle and calves.

Mind you. ...that much meat to be butchered in 1942] But it's expressed in
terms of head, not pounds.

Put your pencil to work and figure out what this means in pounds. . . . and what
It means to the average family table.

And here't what you'll find. It's more meat than you or I ever dreamed of.

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Ihat hog goal means that 10 billion 300 million pounds of pork will come out of
packing houses in 1942. A billion pounds more than came out in 1940. That's for
hogs alone.

And a lot of that pork will go to our allies, the other countries of the
"Jni ted Nations. But officials of the Department of Agriculture say there'll still
be plenty of meat for people here at home.

They say if the farmers reach the goals for livestock production in 1942,
there will be 177 pounds of meat for every person in the United States. That's
after all exports (anticipated at present) under Lend- Lease, are taken care of....
ind those exports as planned are large. This country will also have a bigger
carry-over of meat at the end of the year than we had at the beginning. We had a
record supply on hand January first, too.

That's 177 pounds per person. . . .not per family. Well, that figure in itself
nay not mean much to you unless you know that during the 5 years, 1936 through '40,
the average American consumed only 153 pounds of meat per year.

Yes. ... there1 11 be 19 more -pounds of meat per person in 1942 than has been
consumed in recent years. That's a 16 percent increase. Or for every 6 pounds
you've been buying the last few years, there'll be 7 pounds on the market this year.

Understand now.... that ' s after we send tons on tons of meat to our allies...
ind put away a reserve so we'll have more meat on hand at the end of the year, than
ve had at the beginning.

Of course, that's figuring in all meats. ... beef , veal, pork, mutton, chicken,
and turkey.

So during this year of 1942 the United States will have more meat for sale.
3ut more people are working than last year. More people have more money, yet not
80 many places to spend their money. So undoubtedly, many people will eat better
than they have been eating. Many of them probably will eat more meat.

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Officials of the Department of Agriculture say if farmers meet the huge
goals for production, there'll "be enough meat to take care of the increased con-
sumption in the United States in 1942.

Now you're wondering: "Will farmers he ahle to meet these goals for meat?"
Again the answer comes from the Department of Agriculture. Officials in the Depart-
ment are confident farmers will meet the livestock goals.

Let's take hogs again, as an example. Hog production is really on the in-
crease. The fall pig crop in 1941 was 18 percent greater than in 1940± And those
hogs will go to market this year. Farmers are also planning a large increase in
their spring pig crop.

That's in the way of numbers. In addition to increasing numbers, farmers
can get more pork by feeding hogs to heavier weights before they're sold. Farmers
did that last year, and probably will continue it this year. In fact, the hogs sold
last year weighed 11 pounds more than the average for the last several years. The
normal average is 230 -pounds a head, but in 1941 they averaged 241 pounds a head.
It all adds up to more -pork.

That's the outlook. More hogs are being raised... and there's plenty of
feed in the country to feed them. It also appears that farmers will meet the other
livestock goals.

Well. ... that ' s the story of meat supplies in 1942. It looks now as if you
won't need to worry about changing your menus as far as meat is concerned. But the
war may increase the demands on food way over the outlook today. It's hard to fore-
see the exact food needs of our allies a year from now. In any event, the meat
situation shows our farmers are determined to be prepared for whatever may develop.

Next week some information for you on the supply of fats and oils in 1942.

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